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Top tips on integrating your PPC and SEO strategies

byAnn Stanley

February 2012

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Contents1. Keyphrase selection:

PPC gives you real data on search volumes and allows you to determine the target audiences' response to these phrases. This will allow you to optimise for the keyphrases that generate conversions, not the ones that have high impression or clicks

2. Ads and click through rates:PPC ad copy testing allows you to maximise click through and conversions. This data can be used for SEO to improve the effectiveness of your meta tags (titles, descriptions or snippets)

3. Landing page conversions and site effectiveness:The effectiveness of your site (bounce rates and conversions) can quickly be determined using PPC. Improvements can be made in order to maximise the benefits of your SEO traffic

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Part 1:Keyphrase selection

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Traditional approach to keyphrase selection

Find keyphrases with:1. High volume of searches2. Low competition (i.e. low number of indexed pages for the

keyphrase)

Choose your keyphrase selection strategy:• Target a few high volume phrases and work very hard to

overcome the high level of competition• Target a large number of “Long Tail” or low volume phrases

with little or no competition• Calculate the ratio of searches vs. competition and target the

phrases with the best ratio

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Tips on using the Google Keyword Tool• Set-up an AdWords account and use the tool within your

account – learn how at:http://

www.anicca-solutions.com/images/downloads/Introduction-to-AdWords-Facebook-and-LinkedIn-Pay-per-click-August-2011.pdf

• Advantages of being logged in:– No CAPTCHA code– 800 keyphrase suggestions (rather than 100 in the external tool)– Cost per click data provided– Save keyphrases in your ad group, so you can go in more than once

and add new ideas

Don’t forget to select [Exact] or “Phrase” match and your local region or country

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AdWords Keyphrase Tool

• Change keyphrase match type to [exact] and/or “phrase”• Top phrases are the ones you entered, the lower ones are suggested keyphrases• Download into a spreadsheet

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Determining competitionAllintitle: operator

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Problem – These techniques do not take

into account whether the keyphrases are likely

to drive actions or sales (conversions)

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Why use PPC data to determine the most effective keyphrases for SEO?

• It can take 6 -12 months to see the result from your SEO activities

• But you may have wasted your efforts on optimising for keyphrases with high volumes of searches but no conversions

• We recommend you use PPC data as part of your SEO strategy– Narrow down your target list to the keyphrases that convert rather

than those with the highest search volumes– Use as many months data as possible and use “See Search Terms”

on the Keyword tab to see the actual phrases that converted– If you are not currently using PPC then you may want to run a PPC

campaign before starting your SEO, in order to understand your keyphrase profile and what keyphrases convert

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Google.co.uk search volumes

Allintitle:“keyword”

Ratio Conversions (12 months)

Target

[plumbing courses] 6,600 56,600 0.12 343

[electrician courses] 4,400 2,060 2.14 22

[gas safety certificate] 3,600 15,000 0.240 – but 6 in “See

Search Terms”

[electrician training] 1,900 3,590 0.53 8

[electrical courses] 1,600 20,200 0.08 12

[electrical training] 1,600 51,500 0.03 13

[gas safe courses] 1,000 32 31.25 107

[plumbing course] 880 4,610 0.19 26

[gas training] 720 7,930 0.09 15

[electrician course] 590 479 1.23 11

[electrical course] 320 1,610 0.200 – but 38 in “See

Search Terms”

[plumber courses] 320 360 0.89 12

[gas safe course] 110 9 12.22 23

[plumber course] 110 42 2.62 9

645 conversions559 (86.7%)

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Analysis – Relationship between keyphrases that have

impressions and conversions

Data from 5 PPC accounts

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Understanding the “Long Tail” (12 months of PPC data)

Number of keyphrases Training Travel Food Glasses Apparel

Total keyphrases included in account 31,041 53,457 17,697 98,258 52,667Active keyphrases 30,418 37,855 3,241 10,447 26,736See Search Terms 85,696 14,814 43,259 39,243 19,040

Number of keyphrases * Training Travel Food Glasses Apparel

>1 impressions 12,770 6,299 6,002 5,044 6,759>1 clicks 6,890 3,027 3,677 2,346 2,947

>1 conversion 2,195 74 292 180 499% keyphrases

with a conversion 17.2% 1.2% 4.9% 3.6% 7.4%

* Keyphrases included in the account rather than “See Search Terms”

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Keyphrase profile – by impressions

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Keyphrase profile – by conversions

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Comparison of the number of keyphrases with >1 impression, >1 click or >1 conversion

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Did the keyphrases with the most impressions also convert?

Training Travel Food Glasses Apparel

>10,000 impressions 35 5 37 33 68

>1000 impressions 387 82 535 263 353

>100 conversions 8 0 0 0 0

10 - 99 conversions 16 2 3 7 23

1 - 9 conversions 11 24 23 11 33

0 conversions 0 56 11 15 12

Keyphrases with conversions 35 26 26 18 56

Keyphrases reviewed 35 87 37 33 68% keyphrases with

conversions 100% 30.0% 70.2% 54.5% 82.4%

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Conclusions – Keyword selection• The number of keyphrases used by searchers was between 14,814 - 85,696

(as shown using See Search Terms)• The number of keyphrases that resulted in conversions varied between 74 –

2,195 for each account (based on keyphrases bid on)• Training account

– There was a high proportion of keyphrases which resulted in conversions as compared to the number of impressions (17.2%)

– Using “See Search Terms” in the training account, there were 5,900 keyphrases that actually generated a conversion (as compared to the 2,195 included in this account) – many of these have now been added into the account

– All the top 35 keyphrases (by impressions) also had conversions– This would infer a broad SEO strategy – targeting many more keyphrases

• The other accounts – There were 74 to 499 keyphrases with conversions; which was a very low proportion of

keyphrases as compared to the number getting impressions (1.2% - 7.4%) – The top 33-87 keyphrases with the highest impressions had 30.0 - 82.4% with conversions– This would infer a narrow SEO strategy targeting the keyphrases that have had conversions

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‘Take home’ message

If you limit your SEO to a few keyphrases with the highest impressions then you are very likely to choose the keyphrases that do not convert –

so use your PPC results to determine your SEO strategy!

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Part 2:Ads and click through rates

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Weight To Go – ads, titles and descriptions

PPC ad with Sitelinks, +1 and strong call to action CTR = 41.7% for brand keyphrase (‘Weight to go’)

Organic results for 3 pages, with titles, descriptions and sitelinks (top result only)CTR = 39.9% for brand keyphrase (‘Weight to go’)

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CTR for organic results(Analytics linked to Webmaster Tools)

@annstanleyAdWords Ad Copy testing(1-8th Jan)

Keyphrase:Weight To Go

www.weighttogo.com/4-easy-steps.html www.weighttogo.com/4-easy-steps.html

ChampionAd

Challenger Ad

Impressions 1,961

Clicks 453

CTR 23.1%

Conversions 24

Conv rate% 5.3%

CPA £7.22

Impressions 2,186

Clicks 470

CTR 21.5%

Conversions 8

Conv rate% 8.1%

CPA £5.46

1000 x 21.5% x 8.1% = 17.4 conversions at £5.46

1000 x 23.1% x 5.3% = 12.2 conversions at £7.22

Ad Copy testing is as much about conversion rate as CTR

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Conclusions – Ads and CTRAdWords ads• AdWords copy is easy to test and small changes can have a big effect on

CTR% and also conversion rates (both positive and negative)• AdWords title should contain the keyphrase to increase Quality Score, so

testing should focus on varying “calls for action” and offers (in description)• Effect of Sitelinks and other ad extensions can also be easily measured

Page titles and descriptions • Select the relevant web page to experiment with i.e. it is listed for the

keyphrase/ad group you have already tested in AdWords• Use Webmaster Tools data and Analytics to understand current organic

CTR and visits (accounts can now be linked)• Also use Webmaster Tools to demote any site links you don’t want to

emphasise

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Part 3:Landing page conversions and site effectiveness

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Why use PPC landing pages data for SEO?

• Landing page relevancy is now a more important part of AdWords Quality Score

• Having a good load speed time and relevant keyphrases on the landing page will help both your PPC Quality Scores and your organic SEO

• AdWords landing pages are often built solely to maximise conversion rates, so why not use these lessons to optimise the rest of the pages on your site?

• A good PPC landing page may be the best page to optimise – so use successful landing pages for both!

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Methods to test landing pages

AdWords landing page testing• Use the same ad in rotation with different landing pages

(50:50)• Use “experiments” to vary the url of the landing page

(you can change ratio of how often they show)

Conversion optimisation on your website• Use winning ads/landing page from AdWords testing• Use Google Optimiser to do A:B testing or multi-variate

testing – this tests landing page for all traffic not just PPC

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How to measure landing page effectivenessAdWords• Ads tab – CTR and conversion rates for a specific ad group • Dimension tab - Gives overall data for URL across the whole AdWords account, but does not

take into consideration keyphrases e.g. effect of brand keyphrases

Analytics KPI• Site performance (bounce rates, dwell time etc) • Conversions - use of goals to measure conversions on a ‘Thank You’ or success pages (also use

goals to measure events for clicks or downloads)• Ecommerce tracking for sales and revenue – conversion rates, average order value, total

sales

Analytics metrics (where to find the results)• Landing page metrics – use different tabs, secondary dimension, and segmentation (to

compare by traffic source); to measure performance and conversions (goals or ecommerce)• Keyphrase metrics - with performance and ecommerce tab (Note: old version of Analytics

allows you to see total, paid or non-paid in the same area)• Funnel visualisation – see the abandonment at each stage on the way to a completed goal

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Dimensions in AdWords

Dimensions gives an overall idea of landing page conversion rates but does not compare like with like –

need to test ads using same keyphrases

@annstanleyLanding page testing – rotation of 2 ads

Keyphrase:Weight To Go

www.weighttogo.com/4-easy-steps.html www.weighttogo.com/reward1.html

Championlanding

page

Challenger Landing

pageImpressions 336

Clicks 95

CTR 28.3%

Conversions 5

Conv rate% 5.3%

Impressions 1,961

Clicks 453

CTR 23.1%

Conversions 24

Conv rate% 5.3%

This page appears to be the new champion, but what about revenue?

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Analytics – landing page metrics by source

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Keyphrase/Landing page conversions

All

Paid

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Example of a low PPC conversion rate – using Funnels to solve a site-wide issue

• Is the conversion rate the same for all traffic sources?

• If yes, review in “funnel visualisation” and determine at what step there is a problem

• Review site to fix problem on the first page of the shopping cart

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Conclusions – Landing pages• There are a number of methods of testing landing page effectiveness

– PPC is fast and immediate (especially for new sites with little traffic from other sources)

• However ads can effect CTR and conversion rates – so make sure you look at overall conversions and CPA

• Only change one variable at a time and compare “like with like” e.g. keyphrase, ad text, landing page, etc

• Check to see if average order value or sales are affected (Analytics data) – more conversions does not necessarily mean more revenue!

• Use funnel visualisation to understand the user journey and to diagnose problem areas

• “Combine and conquer” – use a successful landing page for both your PPC and SEO

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Thank YouAnn Stanley

@annstanleyann@anicca-solutions.com

www.anicca-solutions.com